Implementation can only carry imitation to a point. If Dark Sector’s soulless, emo-tinged Hayden Teno is anything to go by, his BioShock-style elemental powers slapped onto ubiquitous cover mechanics, a game can be stitched together with scarcely a blemish, but it’s the seams of construction that reveal the patchwork within. Continue »
Before slabs of towering concrete were dropped in, the metal twisted into devastated shapes, Killzone 2 clearly banked that it all begins with the simple fun of movement within a space. Because even though they radiate an orange, almost perfectly menacing glow, Helghast eyes don’t constitute a game on their own. Continue »
If copycats are the finest form of compliment, then Epic Games’ gunmetal grime would be tenfold the worth of Rare’s cartoony colour. But contrary to Gears of War’s replicable machismo, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts’ keen sense of humour is an industry one-off – dealing in distinct dry wit while others brood. Continue »
Anonymity is buffer for consequence. Perhaps that’s why in our era religious texts and pitchforks have been replaced by keyboards and broadband connections. Granted, we live in a time of donning masks: the lonely are led to Second Life, videogames imitate power fantasy, and intolerance is epitomized by a faceless crowd, who stare at computer screens and treat dissonance as a disease. Continue »
Too much of a good thing always has its eventual consequence, no matter how you shake it. A lifetime supply of a favourite food will either prove exhaustive within a month, or turn you fat over years. Everything requires balance.
I have the opportunity, owed to some consistent work on this site, to get many games without the need to consistently pinch for pennies. And, on one hand, that means my one man show can roll out the content carpet often. But, on the other, it rests entirely on my will to plough through and review each one to its fullest extent. Continue »
"This game is like attaining a state of Nirvana, within Nirvana" - A quotation predicted to appear in a 2009 game review
When an audience saw a reel of film projected onto a backdrop for the very first time, they were so taken with the reality of the illusion that they ran, panicked and screaming, to the back of the theatre. The moving image was that of a train rolling into a station; towards the camera, and, in turn, the mass of people in its path of motion. To them, it all but barreled through the screen.
If you frequent games press outlets upon the eve of a tentpole release, where thousands of smelly nerds wear down that F5 key at 11:59 for the long awaited review, you already know the likely outcome: Being told that game X will transcend review scales, be the best of all time, make the previous hyperbole darling a moot point, and redefine the gaming landscape, of course.
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She reaches out with that slender, delicate hand and evaporates the danger before it takes its usual toll. You seemingly fall to your death, yet she’s right there to pull you up and away from the corrosive depths. The motions are there: rhythmic platforming, daring combat, all the stumbles and spills, too. But death, in the traditional sense, never greets our princely hero. Continue »